Needless to say, it was a perfect autumn afternoon for an engagement photo session. Not too hot…not too cold. Beautiful. We were in Naperville, IL (a suburb of Chicago) at a remote park. It was so peaceful. Nobody was around. You could almost hear the leaves landing on the ground as the wind took them from their branches.

I met Brittany & Vaido at Inga & Jeff’s wedding last year (see their wedding at this blog post). Referrals from past clients are the greatest compliment! They are the owners and chefs for Truffleberry Market, a boutique catering company in Chicago. Since we will be heading to Cabo, Mexico for their destination wedding this upcoming winter, we took advantage of this perfect fall afternoon to capture some fun and creative engagement photos!

Brittany and Vaido had mentioned to me at our first meeting that they were a tough couple to photograph, but they wanted ‘real’ photos of themselves. They love how I capture emotion and love in my imagery. I’ll admit, I felt a little bit of pressure, but after 10 minutes into the photo session…my worries were alleviated…they were great to work with!

I LOVE this moment! For all you photographers out there reading this blog post…this was shot manual focus with a Nikon 50 1.2 lens (yes…a Nikon 50 1.2 you read that correctly!). It’s an old lens and that ‘glow’ you see in the photo is not from photoshop…it is a function of the lens at 1.2- when used appropriately…it looks great!

Vaido is such a fun guy…I didn’t tell him to run backwards…he just did that spontaneously! Look at the beautiful red, orange and yellow fall colors on the tree!

A photo documenting a real moment between these two-

The autumn leaves falling like snow

Possibly my new favorite black and white photo I have in my portfolio

We are in the midwest…gotta take photos of the prairie fields. It’s so funny to see California photographers commenting that they wish they had prairies to take photos of. Yes…here they are- we have lots of them in Illinois!

The suburbs of Chicago are full of great nature preserves…Naperville is no exception!

I felt like was shooting for a J.Crew catalog. If only we had time for 50 outfit changes!

For some reason…I am really loving how she has her eyes closed in this photo. I have the same photo a moment before with her eyes open, but this one feels right-

He can’t help but to laugh!

Trying to be a little creative with the usage of lines. It is such a strong compositional element-

And a full autumn palette of colors in one tree…and in one photo? Yes please! Oh yea, and let’s not forget to mention the great looking couple. =)

I love Brittany’s smile in this picture.

I love this portrait of the two of them.

You can hire Truffleberry Market to cater your next event and you’ll find out just how awesome they are!

Before we called it a night…we took a few more photos with one more outfit- but to be honest…I loved their shoes! =)

Thanks you guys for phenomenal time! I can’t wait until Cabo! And keep up the great work at Truffleberry Market! And I leave you guys with one last photo!

with love,

Kenny

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When they first started their relationship, Cynthia & Chris were a bit long distance. In addition to all the miles they logged to see each other, they traveled a lot for work. It almost seemed like their life was like George Clooney’s in “Up in the Air” (not the whole relationship part, just the traveling, collecting miles, etc…). And while it was great when they finally moved to live in the same city as each other, it was even better to be committed “til death do us part”.

Chris grew up hanging out by the river with his family. Barges & boats are part of his past time. So there was little surprise that they wanted their wedding reception to be on the riverfront in St. Louis. Might as well be right by the Arch too!

Ceremony
Grace and Peace Fellowship
5574 Delmar Boulevard
St Louis, MO 63112

Reception
Hyatt Regency St Louis at the Arch
315 Chestnut Street
St. Louis, MO 63102

We started near Washington University and Forest Park, where the ceremony was being held. Cynthia’s wedding bouquet was yellow made from orchids!

Her wedding shoes: a shade of blue that matches her bridesmaid’s dresses-

A gorgeous bride-

And we can’t forget the wedding veil

The groomsmen went out for a couple pictures together-

There were lots of daisies-

A view of Grace and Peace Fellowship from the balcony-

The vows were going smoothly, until…”til death do us part” came up…marriage is about commitment, and I know that Chris and Cynthia feel this way too-

We drove down the road to Forest Park, the pride and joy of the St. Louis people. We took a couple shots, but this one was my favorite-

Cynthia really wanted a cool ring photo, so we grabbed a daisy and went for it!

Wedding cake with daisies

The reception was at the Hyatt Regency St Louis at the Arch, a great venue with a phenomenal view! In the photos, you can see the Arch in the background-

And from way up high in the Hyatt, I grabbed these next couple shots of the bridal party down by the Arch-

I love this image by the Arch. Check out the curious mind peeking around the corner! Too cute!

My favorite photo from the day, with the Arch in the background-

Right after our photo session, we dropped them off at the airport, a place that is just too familiar for them- almost like a second home.

Thanks you guys for inviting me down to St Louis! I enjoyed my Pappy’s ribs, Iron Barley Monte Carlo & milkshake from Crown Candy. But more than that, I enjoyed being there when the two of you began your new chapter together!

with love,

Kenny

This first image was my favorite…I love geometric shapes combined with the fall leaves.

What a fun moment! I didn’t even tell them to do this!

When in Chicago, gotta take advantage of the gorgeous skyline when possible. =)

This park was pretty awesome. I didn’t even know about it even though I’ve spent some time on the UIC campus.

Again, I didn’t pose them in this way…it just happened…I just have that Titanic scene replaying in my head when I look at this-

All of a sudden, they pulled out the attitude. =)

I love the way she is looking at him- love is written all over eyes-

Thanks you for an awesome time in Chicago! Thanks for walking me around the UIC Medical District! I can’t wait for your wedding this upcoming year! May the Lord continue to be with you both as you prepare for your commitment to one another!

with Love,

Kenny Nakai